Human-EnvironmentRelations-TheUniversityofTexasat.pptVIP

Human-Environment Relations Religious roots of various attitudes Judaism/Christianity/Islam Everything in nature was created by a single supreme being with unlimited powers. Nature as God’s Handiwork “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth and it will teach you; the fish of the sea, they will inform you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Eternal has done this?” (Job 12:7-9) Judaism/Christianity/Islam A single, supreme God created man and woman, who lived in perfect harmony with nature, and had all their needs provided for by nature until they committed an act of evil. All of humankind was subsequently punished for this act by being forced to work in order to survive. Struggling against nature is therefore part of humanity’s “fallen” condition. Nature as Place of Exile Punishment And to Adam, the Lord said: Because you have listened to your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat: Cursed be the ground because of you; in toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, since out of it you were taken; for dust you are and unto dust you shall return (Gen. 3, 17-19). Judaism/Christianity/Islam Humankind was granted dominion over the earth by a single, supreme God. A particular way of treating the environment would only be bad in this God’s eyes if it resulted in harm to another person or was in violation of one of God’s commandments. Dominion “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of al